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The first flickering images hit the airwaves on April 30, 1939. President Franklin D. Roosevelt gave a short speech declaring open the New York World’s Fair. It was the first public broadcast of an electronic medium called television.
The Radio Corporation of America (RCA) aired Roosevelt’s speech. Fewer than 100 sets of the new “picture radio,” had been sold. The screens ranged from five to 12 inches.
The Early Years
The first daily broadcast was from Radio City in Manhattan. The first portable back and white TV was introduced in 1956. The first battery-powered set in 1960. NBC became the first network to televise all programs in color in 1966. Here are few other interesting “firsts.”
• First televised sporting event – a college baseball game between Columbia and Princeton on May 17, 1939.
• First televised major league baseball game – the Cincinnati Reds and Brooklyn Dodgers on August 26, 1939.
• First televised newscast – December 7, 1941 as the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) reported the events of Pearl Harbor.
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